A/N
Hey everyone! Happy Snoggletog! And happy Sinterklaas, who has arrived in Holland today!
A while ago, I was watching. Gift of the Night Fury, and then, at one part in the movie, I got the urge to alter the story from that point, which resulted in this one-shot! It is a complete coincidence that I finished it on Snoggletog, since I thought It would take longer to write, but lucky for me, it didn't so I get to post it now!
Unfortunately, I couldn't come up with a catchy title, so this'll have to do...
I won't keep you waiting any longer now, so on with the one-shot!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from HTTYD.
This, is Berk. Hosting the kind of balmy 'Fun in the Sun' climate that will give you frostbite on your spleen. The one upside, is our annual holiday. We call it 'Snoggletog.' Why we chose such a stupid name remains a mystery, but with the war long over, and dragons living amongst us, this year's Snoggletog promises to be one to remember.
Hiccup woke up to the sound of Toothless roaring and jumping on his room. Dust trickled from the beams that supported the house, and with every jump Toothless took, the house vibrated.
Groaning, Hiccup turned to his side and pulled his blanket over his head, desperately clinging on some more sleep.
But unfortunately for him, he had an impatient dragon bringing the house close to collapsing if he didn't come out soon, and Hiccup reluctantly opened his eyes and let the blanket slide off his head.
"Okay! Okay, I'm coming," he grumbled, sitting up and half sleeping trying to grab his helmet from the bed post. He only managed at the third try, when he decided that maybe it would be handy to open his eyes and see where he had to grab.
Knowing that Toothless wouldn't wait much longer, Hiccup decided to eat breakfast after they had flown, and went straight outside.
The cold sure made him wake up fully, but not before a last yawn could escape his mouth. He rubbed his right arm, hoping to get his limbs warmed up a bit. It sure was going to be a cold Snoggletog. He then rubbed his eye while looking up, adjusting to the bright light of the outside, and saw the Night Fury on the roof, watching my every move with what looked like a smug face. He enjoys this too much, Hiccup thought. But I'll get my revenge someday.
"Well good morning, Mister Bossy," he said towards his friend, and Toothless gargled in what was his laugh. Hiccup did it back, even though it sounded much less convincing because he was no dragon, and rounded the corner.
Toothless walked over the roof towards the side of the house and jumped down.
"Do you always have to wake me up in the morning to go flyiiiiiiing!" Had Hiccup been looking where he was walking, he would have seen the patch of ice right in front of him. But of course he didn't, which resulted in him falling spectacularly if Toothless hadn't been there to break his fall.
Once he had regained his footing, Hiccup had the urge to just crush the prosthetic, since it only caused him things like this. "Stupid leg," he mumbled.
Toothless crooned softly, clearly worried for his friend, and looked up with eyes that were asking Hiccup if he was okay, and if it would be better to just skip the flying today.
"No thanks buddy, I'm okay," Hiccup said, and reached out to touch the dragon's head. "We can go flying now."
Hiccup smiled, seeing Toothless brighten at the prospect of flying, before Toothless did something he had never done before.
He burped. Sort of. Right in his face!
"E-ew! What-" Oh Odin's beard, the smell! Hiccup thought with watering eyes. "Ew! Ahh-" Hoping to avoid another burp, he gently pushed the dragon's head away. "Toothless." What have you eaten in Thor's name?
The flying made all thoughts disappear, as boy and dragons soared through the air as if they were one. Hiccup and Toothless shot straight up in the air, right through the clouds and did a twist before flying horizontally over the clouds. The sun beamed down on their bodies, warming their bodies against the harsh winds.
"Come on!" Hiccup said and he steered Toothless to dive down again. "Let's see what you got today!" He whooped at they flew downwards, parallel to the mountain peak that was next to them.
They went as far as they could, and when they had reached the limit, Toothless spread his wings, thus preventing them from crashing, and flew horizontally again without losing speed.
"Yeah!" Hiccup exclaimed, the adrenaline flowing through his veins. It would be a while before he would have had enough of this.
Looking ahead, Hiccup saw the sea stack that had been hollowed out by the weather, making it look like two stacks with a bridge between them. They had tried to perform one particularly trick for a while now, but up till know they hadn't succeeded yet.
But Hiccup had a feeling that today would be different.
"Okay, you ready?" Hiccup asked. Toothless roared in agreement, and Hiccup, undid the straps that connected his flying gear to the saddle, and detached his prosthetic from the stirrup, leaving Toothless to fly on his own. He jumped up so that he was standing on the saddle, his arms spread and knees bent to keep his balance.
"Easy…" he said when Toothless roared again, alerting Hiccup that he didn't think he would be able to keep up flying on his own for much longer.
Then they had reached the stack, Toothless launched Hiccup into the air while he flew underneath the "bridge."
At first, Hiccup felt great. But then he felt himself losing altitude, and he hoped that Toothless would be under him when he fell. He really didn't want to fall into the ice-cold ocean again, one time was more than enough.
Fortunately, the dragon managed to fly at the right speed, and Hiccup fell on top of him. After almost gliding off of the dragon in surprise, Hiccup hauled himself in the saddle and locked his prosthetic into place.
Hiccup was ecstatic. "Yes, finally!" he exclaimed while he patted Toothless on the head. The dragon purred happily, feeling the same as his rider for finally succeeding the trick.
"Here?"
"Yes, yes- No! No, that one a wee bit higher!"
"Here?"
"There! Ah, that's the spot!" Gobber the Belch said while one of the Viking women put up the Snoggletog decorations with the help of her Gronckle.
"Alright!" the woman responded.
Stoick smiled while he put a hand on his best friend's shoulder. He couldn't have been more proud than now. He looked around fondly, seeing the whole village prepare for the holidays.
A child, dressed up as a Gronckle, ran towards Meatlug and tried to impress the dragon with his roar. Said dragon stood up from the place she had been napping and decided to show the kid how the real job was done. She roared so loudly that the child slid backwards on the ice.
When Meatlug was done, the child laughed in delight and ran off, probably to impress other Gronckles, with Meatlug following him.
"Atta boy, Meatlug!" Fishlegs, who had been putting up decorations as well with the help of a ladder, said.
Behind him, Stormfly and Astrid were decorating the big tree with shields. The Deadly Nadder had her tail ready to launch, and was waiting for Astrid to throw the shields.
"Are you ready, girl?" she asked, and Stormfly purred. Astrid threw the shields up in the air, two first, and Stormfly swung her tail to launch the spikes. Four spikes landed in the tree, two pinning the shields down.
Astrid threw another one right after the first two, and again Stormfly hit dead on.
Stoick turned around and started walking around the tree..
"By Odin's beard, Gobber. Vikings spending the winter holidays with dragons!" he said, knowing that his friend was right behind him. "What would our fathers say?"
"They'd think we had lost our minds!" Gobber said, now walking next to Stoick, who laughed heartily.
The Chief faced the crowd that had gathered in front of him. "Well done!" he bellowed. "Well done, all of you! I'd never thought I would live to see this day. Peace, on the island of Berk. This will surely be, the greatest holiday we've ever seen."
The crowd cheered and dragons roared in agreement, and Stoick could help but smile. Valka would've been proud.
But then Stoick realized that the roaring didn't sound agreeing at all. It was a sort of roaring he never thought he would hear again. The roaring that dragons made during the raids, the signal for the dragons to gather themselves.
"What the-" he said, while he looked up. The crowd silenced suddenly, and followed the Chief's example. Dragons raised their head at the sound, and everyone wondered what was happening.
Dragons. The sky was filled with them. All kinds and all sizes one could think of were flying in one direction, as if they were migrating.
"What in Thor's name-?" Gobber said.
Suddenly, the dragons that had been on the island started taking off, and panic ensued. Stoick could see Snotlout hanging from one of the houses while Hookfang flew away towards the dragons.
Fishlegs' eyes widened, and he ran away after saying: "Meatlug!"
The villagers were watching helplessly as their dragons flew away, and they knew of only one person who might have got an idea as to what was going on.
Astrid looked around, trying to find that person, but when she didn't see him, she asked the question that was on everyone's mind.
"Where is Hiccup?"
Unaware of what was happening on Berk, Toothless and Hiccup were still flying through the clouds.
"What do ya say, bud? Wanna go again? Hiccup asked while he patted the side of Toothless' neck. The dragon purred contentedly, and Hiccup smiled, looking up to try again, only to be met with the sight of hundreds of dragons flying in their direction. They didn't seem to notice the boy and the Night Fury, all were concentrated on their destination.
Hiccup screamed in surprise when wings and talons came dangerously near him, almost throwing him out of the saddle. They managed to dodge the first dragons though, but Hiccup knew that it was far from over. More dragons were still approaching. But that didn't stop Hiccup from looking around, trying to see where the dragons were going.
That little moment of distraction was all it took. Another wing of a dragon hit his head, causing his helmet to fall off and towards the sea below.
"Oh no, my helmet!" Hiccup didn't have time to do anything else than that before Toothless dived after it. Again, Hiccup screamed in surprise, desperately clinging onto Toothless.
They weren't looking around anymore, something they would regret later, as another dragon flew into the duo. The force was enough to send Hiccup flying, who had forgotten to put the straps which connected his flight gear to the saddle back on. Toothless tried to spread his wings and fly towards Hiccup to save his friend, but with no one controlling the prosthetic fin, he couldn't even get close.
With a big splash, Hiccup fell into the cold waters, and a bit further away so did Toothless.
The cold made Hiccup unable to move his limbs, and he had the feeling that his head was shrinking. He desperately tried to swim towards the surface, his lungs screaming for air, but his body was too much in a shock to move.
He tried not to, but eventually his reflexes took over and his mouth opened to allow the water to get in. His vision blacked, and in his last moments of awareness, he felt something grab him around his torso, and pull him upwards.
But it was not Toothless who saved him. While the Night Fury still looked for his best friend in the waters, another dragon, a Deadly Nadder, had the boy secured in her talons, taking him to wherever she was going, unbeknownst to Toothless.
Toothless was still searching when the sun was about to set. He had only found Hiccup's helmet by accident, but now it just wasn't important. Finding Hiccup was. He dived under water for what seemed like the millionth time, and swam as deep as he could. Dragons had a significant bigger size of lungs than humans, so they could keep their breath for much longer, something Toothless was grateful for, for he could now cover a bigger area than if he had to swim back to the surface to take a breath every time. Of course, if humans had had bigger lungs as well, maybe Hiccup wouldn't have needed to be searcher for.
Why did he have to dive after that stupid helmet in the first place? It was just a piece of metal, after all. Losing Hiccup was so much worser!
It was a few hours later that Toothless gave up - he despised himself because of it - and made his way back towards Berk. He had the helmet in his mouth so that he could use all limbs to swim. Maybe, if he went back to Berk, he could get the Vikings to help search for Hiccup! This thought gave Toothless the motivation he needed to fight through his exhaustion and swim as fast as he could.
It still took half an hour before he finally reached the shore of Berk, and by now, all Toothless wanted to do was lie down and sleep. But he needed to let someone know of what had happened before he could rest. He dragged his body forward, and slowly made his way to the village.
Before he had actually set foot on the grass, a yell broke through the silence.
"What-?" Toothless recognized Astrid's voice, and his ears perked up. She must be near!
Then Toothless heard the tell-tale sound of Gronckle wings, and looked up to see Meatlug flying over him, heading in the same direction as all those other dragons. Who caused Hiccup to disappear, he thought.
"Meatlug!" That was Fishlegs' voice. "What about presents? Hey!"
I need to get to them! Toothless thought urgently. He quickly made his way over towards the sounds, but before he could go very far, he collapsed, his body too fatigued to move any more. Toothless let out one last roar before a thick fog seemed to fill his mind and he passed out.
How can he just fly off? Fishlegs thought sadly as he watched Meatlug fly away. I told him that we would be celebrating together!
"Fishlegs!" Startled, Fishlegs turned around and felt the dread spreading through his body as he saw Astrid stomping towards him, a dangerous gleam in her eyes.
"Don't tell me," she said dangerously once she had reached him, "that you kept your dragon locked up all this time!"
How did she know? Fishlegs wondered. He had been very discreet about it after all.
Astrid, who seemed to be able to read his face like a book, looked to be ready to explode. "You didn't think that maybe he wanted to fly eventually? It's no wonder he broke down the door," she said, gesturing towards the door of the barn Fishlegs had kept Meatlug in, which was completely destroyed.
"I-" Fishlegs stammered, afraid that he would anger Astrid even more at the slightest movement, but also feeling that he should say something, but Astrid already walked past him into the barn.
Just at that moment, the twins and Snotlout showed up - probably drawn by the commotion. The only one that wasn't there was Hiccup, who was probably still flying.
"What's going on?" Snotlout asked, while Ruffnut's and Tuffnut's attention was drawn to Fishlegs' fearful expression.
"Dude, you've seen my mums face or something?" Tuffnut asked and waved his hand in front of Fishlegs' face.
"Stop that!" Fishlegs snapped, while Ruffnut snickered at the scene in front of her.
Not wanting to be around the twins anymore, Fishlegs went inside. When he looked around, he saw the broken chain laying on the floor, and immediately his thoughts went to Meatlug.
"I can't believe him," he muttered.
Astrid, who had been gazing at the sky, hoping to see Stormfly again, even if it was just a glimpse, turned around at Fishlegs' words. "You can't believe him? You kidnapped your dragon!" she said and she slapped him on his arm.
Meanwhile, the twins and Snotlout had also entered the barn, and were now looking at a pile of hay that spiked their curiosity, for there was something hidden in the pile.
"That makes it sound so mean..." Fishlegs said, not having noticed the twins' sudden interest in the pile.
"Hey guys," Tuffnut said while he was pushing the hay aside, trying to get the attention from the others.
It wasn't helping much. Astrid, who still could not believe that Fishlegs would do such a thing, was still angry at Fishlegs. "He flew away the second he was unleashed!" she said.
"I'm 72% sure he wanted to stay," Fishlegs responded.
"GUYS!" Tuffnut said loudly, annoyed that the others were still bickering when obviously the attention should be at him.
Fishlegs and Astrid turned towards Tuffnut, startled by his sudden outburst. Then they saw what was previously hidden in the hay.
"Wooo, Meatlug barfed up a pile of rocks!" Fishlegs said, amazed at the kind of rocks, which he was 98,4% sure he hadn't seen ever before.
"You're such an idiot," Ruffnut said. "Those aren't rocks, your dragon laid eggs!"
"Guys, wait," Astrid said, suddenly struck with an idea. "I bet that's the reason the dragons left. To lay their eggs!"
"But boy-dragons don't lay eggs," Fishlegs said, not having realized his mistake.
Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "Yeah, your boy-dragon, is a girl-dragon."
"Okay!" Fishlegs said awkwardly. "That actually explains a few things."
Snotlout, who had been staring outside during the whole conversation, but was still listening, suddenly saw something in the corner of his eyes. He stepped outside, almost to the edge of the platform, and peered downwards towards the beach. A familiar black form was laying there, unmoving.
"Guys, check this out!" he said, and gestured for the others to look. "That looks suspiciously like Toothless."
This caught Astrids attention immediately, all thoughts on a new idea for a Snoggletog tradition forgotten. "Where?" She followed the direction Snotlout was pointing at with her eyes, and indeed, it was the Night Fury they all knew.
"Toothless!" Astrid exclaimed, and she rushed down the platform towards the beach.
The others were right behind them, knowing that if something was wrong with Toothless, something was wrong with Hiccup as well.
"I think something happened," Tuffnut said once they had reached the dragon.
If Astrid hadn't been so worried, she would have slapped some sense in the teen. "Well, yeah, that's obvious, dumb-ass!"
"Sheesh, somebody is in a bad mood," Tuffnut mumbled, but Astrid still heard him.
"Will you shut up? I'm trying to help Toothless!" She stroked the Night Fury's head, while she looked the dragon over. The saddle was intact, nothing seemed out of place.
Except for Hiccup, of course.
Astrid went to scratch Toothless under his chin, hoping to wake him up that way, but then she saw that the dragon had something in his mouth. What could that be? she wondered, and gently pried open Toothless' mouth.
It was Hiccup's helmet. And Astrid knew that if Hiccup didn't have it with him, he always kept it in his room. That means… Astrid's eyes widened. Oh no.
"He's soaked," Fishlegs said, having knelt down at the other side of Toothless. He hadn't noticed Astrid holding Hiccup's helmet. "D'you reckon he swam towards the island?" he asked, dreading the meaning if the answer was yes.
"He's okay, he has to be," Astrid said, thinking about Hiccup. Fishlegs closed his eyes, hating that the answer to his question was "yes".
"I think we should get Toothless into the Chief's house," Snotlout said.
"And how do you propose we do that? Unless you think that you are actually strong enough to carry a full-grown Night Fury?" Astrid asked, irritated at his incompetence, but hating the fact that Snotlout was right, they needed to get Toothless inside.
"Well, we can use a wheelbarrow?" he suggested.
Astrid sighed. "Do you really think that there is a wheelbarrow big enough to carry him?" she asked. Snotlout kept silent, and Astrid had the fight the urge to hit him.
"Let's just go the the Chief. He'll know what to do," Fishlegs suggested. They all agreed on that plan, and soon, the teens found themselves hurrying to find Stoick.
He felt contented in the darkness. There was no pain, no thoughts, nothing. But slowly, Hiccup could feel himself being pulled out of the darkness, and the further he went, the more pain he felt. His head hurt, as did his chest, and something was digging into his back. He also felt that same something encase him around his chest and legs. What was happening?
Slowly, Hiccup opened his eyes. He was flying - no, he was being carried by a flying Deadly Nadder - through mists, avoiding stacks of solid rock that sprouted out of the sea below. Every stack became visible at the last moment, and every time when the Nadder had to suddenly avoid one, Hiccup was jostled roughly, making his head pound even more. He groaned and was about to close his eyes again when suddenly a ship hanging from one of the stacks appeared out of the mist, and was narrowly avoided by the Nadder.
Hiccup had no idea where he was, and the jostling was making him nauseous. He closed his eyes again, hoping that that would make it a bit more bearable, and only a few minutes later, he had passed out again.
The next time Hiccup felt himself drifting towards consciousness, he could tell he was far from Berk without even opening his eyes. The ground felt much too warm for this time of the year, and the air was dry and hot. When he opened his eyes, he was almost blinded by the brightness, and needed a few moments for his eyes to adjust while he sat up. When they did adjust, however, he saw a big island, void of any trees or grass. In the center of the island, there was a big spring surrounded by smaller springs, all with a layer of steam floating above it, indicating the temperature of the water. He looked up and saw a bright blue sky, not a cloud to be seen near the island. Further away, he could see that the island was surrounded by clouds, reminding Hiccup of the eye of a storm. He wondered where he was, but also knew that he had to get back as soon as possible. People were bound to be worried if he stayed away for too long.
And Toothless! What happened to him? Hiccup frantically looked around, but the dragon wasn't near. Deciding that it would be best to go look for him, Hiccup started to walk. He had to stop however, when dizziness and a coughing fit overcame him. Not the best combination, Hiccup discovered.
What had happened, to make him so lightheaded? He closed his eyes, trying to remember everything.
Flying...Toothless...Dragons...Helmet...Falling...Water...Darkness.
With a gasp Hiccup opened his eyes. He was drowning. Did that mean that he died? But the dead couldn't feel pain, or dizziness. That meant that he must be still alive. Thank Gods, Hiccup thought relieved.
But where was he?
Standing at the edge of a small cliff, he took another look around, and only now did he see all the dragons. How could I miss them? Hiccup wondered. The dragons were everywhere, all caring for baby dragons. Hiccup couldn't help but smile. "You guys come here to have babies," he said, while watching a Deadly Nadder feed her babies. Just the sheer amount of the baby dragons was amazing to see, and Hiccup couldn't contain his awe. "Wow," he breathed.
When he looked down, he saw a Gronckle rolling what must be her eggs into one of the small springs. Deciding that he wanted to see what was going to happen, Hiccup glided down towards the dragon, but had to narrowly avoid a baby Gronckle who was being chased by a baby Nadder.
The Gronckle pushed the eggs into the water, and Hiccup saw them sinking to the bottom of the spring, which was surprisingly clear.
Suddenly, the eggs started to glow from within, lighting up the cracks that appeared in the shells. Bubbles emanated from the heat, and only a second later the eggs sprung open, revealing three baby Gronckles who quickly swam towards the surface.
The first Gronckle to make it to the top grasped the edge with its tiny claw, and hauled itself up with much difficulty. "Aw." Hiccup couldn't help it. The scene was just too sweet. The baby fluttered its wings, and jumped up.
"Wow," Hiccup said. He hadn't thought dragons could already fly when they were just born.
He had spoken too soon, because the baby Gronckle only managed to fly a few inches before its wings gave out and it bounced on the ground, almost landing on top of its purple sibling, who was followed by the third greenish-brown sibling.
Looking around for more baby dragons, Hiccup noticed one egg that the mother Gronckle must have missed somehow.
"Hey, look over here, you missed one," Hiccup said while he went to retrieve the egg. Unfortunately, he didn't notice the glowing cracks until it was too late.
With a mighty blast, the egg exploded, throwing Hiccup off his feet.
"Woah!" Hiccup yelled out while he landed on his back and slid a few feet more.
His thoughts however, were on the egg. Had the baby survived the blast? Hiccup raised his head to see a baby Gronckle falling to the ground, a trail of smoke following it, and bouncing on the ground. When it had skidded to a halt, it stretched while yawning, and then walked towards its mother as if nothing had happened at all.
"Man, it's a good thing those don't hatch on Berk," Hiccup said to himself, ignoring the smell and smoke from his slightly burned clothes.
Stoick the Vast wasn't having a good day. It all seemed to go amazingly well, until the dragons suddenly left. It made the whole village go in a subdued mood, and Stoick was sad to admit it, but he didn't really look as forward towards the holidays as he did in the morning. The village just didn't seem as complete without the dragons around. He just didn't know if he should cancel tonight's party or give it a chance.
His friend hadn't been very helpful either. All he did was rummaging through the forge, looking for his panpipes and his prosthetic he had made for Snoggletog, a thing covered with small bells that caused an irritating jingling sound that could give you a serious headache if you listened to it for too long.
His brother, Spitelout, was another thing that caused Stoick the bad mood he was in now. He had been badgering him all day after the dragon's departure, asking where Hiccup was, and if he could solve the problem since he was Berk's Dragon Expert. It didn't matter how many times Stoick told him that Hiccup was out flying for the day, Spitelout just kept asking and asking and asking, making Stoick wish he could just throttle the man so that he would be quiet.
It was during one of those moments that Spitelout just didn't seem to be able to shut up, when a sudden explosion made him.
Thank Thor for small favors, Stoick thought while he quickly made his way towards the barn that was now slightly smoking. A few villagers were already there, dousing the small flames with buckets of water.
When Stoick reached the barn, the flames had died completely, allowing Stoick to enter the barn without any problems. When he entered, however, he saw something completely unexpected.
Ten small baby Gronckles were scattered all over the floor.
"How did those get here?" "What happened?" "Who is responsible for this?" Questions rang through the crowd that had gathered, and Stoick wanted to know the same things. Unfortunately, it seemed that no one really understood what happened.
Maybe the teens know? Stoick wondered, and he was about to ask the villagers if any of them had seen them lately when a shout went above the crowd.
"Chief!" It was the voice of Astrid, and Stoick watched as she and the other teens wrestled their way through the crowd to get to him.
At the sight of the babies, however, they stopped dead in their tracks, jaws hanging open in surprise.
Fishlegs was the first to come out of his stupor. "Oh, look at them!" he said and he scooped two in his arms. "I can't believe these are actually Meatlug's!" Not caring that almost the whole village was watching, Fishlegs cooed and made awkward baby sounds while cuddling all the babies.
"Fishlegs," Stoick said, and the boy gulped, hearing the low, threatening level his name was spoken in.
"Uhm-" he stammered. "I can explain it, of course… You see-"
"Chief, this is not important at the moment." Stoick turned towards Astrid, who was the one who had interrupted Fishlegs. The way she spoke told Stoick that something was seriously wrong.
"What is it?" Stoick asked, hoping against hope that it wasn't as bad as he thought it was.
"We found Toothless on the beach, passed out," Astrid said. "Hiccup was nowhere to be seen."
Stoick's breath was caught in his throat. That wasn't good at all.
"Something happened to him," Snotlout said tentatively, knowing that his uncle wouldn't take the news well.
A million thought went through Stoick's head. What happened to him? Where could he be? Was he hurt?
Hiccup, I will find you, Stoick promised.
"Toothless!" Hiccup yelled while scouting the island for any sign of his friend. After he had witnessed the birth of the baby Gronckles, he had decided that he would look for his friend and go home. His dad would probably be waiting for him, and would probably be worried sick if he didn't get home in time to celebrate the holidays.
"Toothless?" he tried again, but it was in vain. No sound was heard of the Night Fury. "Toothless, where are you?"
Walking up a hill, he heard the sounds of more baby dragons, and when he looked down, he saw a few baby Monstrous Nightmares chirping happily. But it weren't the babies that caught his attention.
It was the Monstrous Nightmare behind them. The dragon raised his head in recognition when he saw Hiccup, and a happy rumble was heard.
"Hookfang!" Hiccup exclaimed, his mood brightening up immediately. He ran down the hill, and hugged the dragon.
It was then that he noticed another familiar dragon next to Hookfang.
"Stormfly!" he said, and he went to greet the Deadly Nadder. "Oh, you have no idea how happy I am to see you guys!"
Stormfly nuzzled him, her warm breath tickling his skin.
"And you have babies!" Sure, almost every dragon on this island had babies, but it was a bit strange for these dragons, who he knew very good, to have them as well.
Stormfly's three babies also chirped happily at the sight of Hiccup, even though they had no idea what kind of being he actually was. But he smelled a lot like the other dragons, so he must be safe.
"Oh, look at you guys," he said while he knelt down to pet them, "all happy together…"
"Who knew you were leaving to celebrate your own kind of holiday?" Hiccup said, remembering that there were probably people waiting for him to return home.
"I should get back to my holiday," Hiccup said, deciding on a plan. "So, what do you say there, Hookfang?" he said, turning to said dragon. "Think you could give me a ride back home?" he asked while he scratched the dragon's neck. Hookfang lowered his head, giving Hiccup access to the better spots. Hiccup smiled and gave one last scratch before mounting the dragon.
Hookfang jumped up, the sudden strong wind blowing through Hiccup's hair. He suddenly was very eager to go home, he had been away for far too long.
"I'll see you all back on Berk when you're good and ready, okay gang?" Hiccup asked once they were hovering in the sky.
To his surprise, Stormfly took off as well. Okay, I guess you can come too, Hiccup thought. But then Stormfly screeched, and more and more dragons took off into the skies.
"Oh, no. No no no," Hiccup said when he realized what was happening. This is not going according to plan. "I - er - think I just started the return migration," he mumbled to himself.
By now, only the babies and a few full-grown dragons were still on the island. Every single one was chirping loudly and jumping excitedly, all eager to follow their parents, and started to run towards the edge of the island.
"Well, if you insist…" Hiccup said, not knowing what else to do.
Two Nadders, a Nightmare and a Gronckle were the first babies to jump down the cliff and flapped their wings in order to stay in the air.
"Come on," Hiccup said, watching the babies and hoping that they would be strong enough to fly all the way to Berk.
But the winds were too strong for their tiny wings, and the four babies were blown back onto the island.
"Oh boy, this is never going to work," Hiccup said. The dragons hovered near the island, encouraging their children, but the babies didn't try again.
"Hmmm," Hiccup racked his brain, trying to think of a plan.
Then he suddenly remembered something. Wasn't there a ship somewhere hanging from those sea stacks?
"Oh, hold on! I got just the thing,"he said, and he patted the side of Hookfang's neck. They turned and flew towards the stacks. While Hiccup didn't exactly remember where it was - he had been unconscious most of the ride, after all - Hookfang seemed to understand what Hiccup was planning and flew in the right direction.
Hiccup just hoped that the plan would work.
Snoggletog truly was a disaster. Even though many decorations were put up in the Great Hall, no one felt like celebrating.
After Stoick had heard that his son was missing, he had sent search parties out, hoping that his boy would be found soon. He himself stayed back, tending to Toothless and the village, even though his mind wasn't at it.
When the sun had started its descent, and the ships and dragons returned without Hiccup, Stoick had locked himself in his house, trying to ignore the wailing that the Night Fury was making, having noticed that Hiccup wasn't among the returning crowd.
Besides the departure of their dragons, the loss of their heir was enough to put the whole village into a subdued mood. Even though they knew that Snoggletog wouldn't be celebrated, they still went to the Great Hall, not knowing what to do in their small houses.
Small talk was being made here and there, and most of the villagers had sat down in groups around the many tables in the Hall. When the doors opened, everyone looked up, hoping against hope that something good was coming, but when they saw the Chief standing there, almost everyone looked down, not really knowing what to say to someone who had just lost their son, Chief or not.
Gobber sighed, seeing the state of his friends and his slightly red-rimmed eyes. He stood up and walked over to him, noticing that Toothless wasn't with the Chief. Gobber put a hand on Stoick's shoulder and guided him to the nearest table, almost instinctively knowing what his friend needed.
The only one that wasn't in the Great Hall was Fishlegs. After having realized that his friend may be gone forever, he went to the baby Gronckles, wanting to isolate himself from the world for a while.
At least, that was what everyone thought, until the doors flew open and Fishlegs ran in.
He was completely out of breath, hunched over with his hands on his knees as if he had run all the way from the bottom to the top of the stairs, something which was quite a feat for someone like Fishlegs.
"You... Need to... See this..." he panted, and he pointed towards the docks.
At first, no one moved. But then, as if one, everyone stood up and hurried out of the great hall, only to halt at the giant tree at the centre of the plaza.
Stoick made his way to the front of the crowd, looking at the dark sky with squinting eyes, trying to see what Fishlegs saw.
"What is that?" he asked, more to himself than anyone else. A giant speck seemed to fly towards them, moving up and down slightly every few moments, as if it was a bird or dragon. The speck came nearer, and to everyone's amazement, the realised it was a ship. A ship being carried by dozens or dragons.
And on top of a familiar Monstrous Nightmare was an even more familiar boy. A boy everyone thought to have been dead just minutes ago.
"It's Hiccup!" Stoick exclaimed, happiness and relief filling his whole being. The crowd started to cheer, all relieved to see their heir alive and well.
Astrid, who had been standing more at the back of the crowd, but had elbowed her way to the front when she heard Hiccup's name being mentioned, suddenly recognised the Nightmare Hiccup was flying on, and more dragons that were carrying the ship.
"And our dragons!" she said. As always, Hiccup managed to solve their problems with the dragons, this time by bringing them all back home in time for the holidays.
But why did he bring the ship? That was a question that was on everyone's mind, and a question that would be answered very soon.
The dragons all descended slowly, not wanting the ship to make a crash landing. The ship touched the ground softly, and was pulled forward through the snow and ice that was on the ground.
Once the ship stopped moving, the dragons let go of the roped they had used to carry the ship, and everyone silenced, all wanting to know what the reason for bringing the ship was.
Their answer came in the form of small baby dragons jumping from the deck onto the ground, and every Viking was speechless for a moment. But then, they slowly moved forward, not wanting to startle the younglings. By then, the adult dragons had landed as well, and made their way towards their riders, who met them halfway, most of them smothering their dragon in a tight hug.
Hiccup jumped off, looking at all the people reuniting with their dragons, and meeting the babies of their dragons. Astrid, the tuff and fierce Viking, was crooning and cawing at the small Deadly Nadders, under the watchful eye of Stormfly, of course.
"Son!" Hiccup turned towards the source of the sound, and found himself in one of his father's bone-crushing hugs.
"You're alright!" Stoick said, vowing to himself to never lose his sone out of his eye.
Gobber, who was watching the scene in front of him, smiled fondly. Last year, this would never have happened, had Hiccup not shown them the world where one lived alongside dragons.
"Everyone, grab your dragons! To the Great Hall! We finally have something to celebrate!" Stoick said, once he had let go of his son, who had turned a slight shade of blues that time.
Everyone was about to do that, when suddenly, a black blur appeared out of nowhere, tackling Hiccup to the ground.
Toothless had been in the Haddock House when Stoick went to the Great Hall. He hadn't wanted any company, and was contented with mourning his rider on his own, with no one around to bother him.
But when, after a while, he heard commotion outside, he couldn't contain his curiosity, and his ears perked up, but he didn't leave his place by the fire-pit. What could've happened to get everyone outside?
Then Toothless heard the cheering, and this time he decided that he wanted to see what was going on. He stood up and went towards the door, knowing that it wasn't locked. He pushed it open with his head, and once he had walked through it, he pushed the door closed again with his tail.
Yes, dragons did have manners.
When Toothless saw the dragons, he got the feeling that there was more to it than what he could see now, so he walked closer. And then he saw the scrawny and awkward teen Toothless saw as his best friend.
He took of at the fastest speed a Night Fury could have, and only slowed down slightly when he tackled the teen.
"Hiccup!" he said while he licked Hiccup's face, much to the disgust over every villager. "Bad human, very bad human! You scared me to death! Don't ever do that again and- Oh! I'm so glad you're back!"
Of course, all Hiccup heard was growling and garbling from the dragon, but he thought he got the gist of what Toothless was trying to say.
"Yeah bud, I missed out too," he said, and he hugged the dragon tightly.
Finally, the holiday turned out like it was supposed to be.
A/N
I think this is the longest I have ever written in a chapter/one-shot... Yay!
Again, I wish you all a happy Snoggletog!
Forever Me